The group of three has left Shamuti (Which signals this takes place after the movie 2000) and have landed on a new Isle. Now it's time for a little relaxation, a little fun, and a little worry..! Maybe AAMRN.

A/N: Okay, it's Friday
night and I just got done seeing PKMN 2000-The Movie and watching all the AAM
flirtation made me want to write something so here it is. The most illustrious
piece of work I can think of at eleven pm on Friday night when I should be
sleeping for tomorrow when I can get up and watch YuGiOh, Shaman King, Teen
Titans, and PKMN (Bashing everything May stands for along the way, I might
add). I hope you enjoy.

Summary: A small piece
taking place after the end of the PKMN 2000 movie. It'll start off with a
conversation between Melody and Misty and maybe get into a little more AAMRN
later on. I'm not sure whether it'll be a one-shot or a chapterized fic but it
doesn't matter now any way!

Dedication: ... I'm not
so sure but all you ego-maniacs who think that they're the best at writing
AAMRN fluffiness might as well just come out and say that you consecrate this
to yourselves. Lord knows I've done that with a lot of your fiction... (*Starts
to whistle quietly and walk away*)

Disclaimer: Though it
pains me to admit it, I went bankrupt and was forced to sell my work of
PKMN, all of its characters, the plot line, the funny names, the completely
tedious puns, and the AAMRN and JAJRN anecdote to Satoshi Tajiri and his
Co-Directors. They completely bought me out and I'm sorry. If it had been up to
me, I would have smuggled them out of the country (I do actually speak a
little Japanese even though I don't sound like it, enough to get me a trip out
of Japan any way) but they got to me before I could board the plane. Quite a
fictional adventure wouldn't you say? Yeah, yeah, I know. Everything is indeed,
though regrettably, owned by Satoshi Tajiri and his pals at the foreign film
making place in Japan...

***

Melody: 15

Misty: 14

Ash: 12

Tracey: 16

***

Chapter One: Girl Talk

It had probably been one
of the most eventful and, pretty much, suicidal days in Ash's life and he was
now spending the rest of it upstairs of the Shamuti Island Legend Inn snoring
away in his little cot. Misty personally didn't blame him. If not for a very
strange and convenient case of insomnia, she'd be completely out cold right
about now as well. You gotta admit that it'd take a lot having to spend half
your life stressing over a little kid who'd like to spend a good part of his
life thrusting himself over cliffs or letting himself plunge into a perilous
sea. In fact, the only reason that she was currently still sane was the fact
that she didn't have to worry about going through such a struggle on her own.

Brock had always held a
strong grip on both their collars and, though Tracey wasn't as familiar with
Ash's daily ritual of 'Doing the right thing even if it kills me', he had come
to know that there was never a dull moment when around the squirt. Misty
doubted that she'd ever forget all the times he'd played 'Suicidal Attempt' and
this was probably game number one thousand thirty-five. She had to admit,
though, it beat life cooped up at her old Gym in Cerulean. Sure, she liked to
visit but having a solemn duty to sit there day after day on her butt...
Really, it just didn't work with her. She'd decided long ago, of course never
out loud because if her words had been overheard she'd never live it down, that
she'd rather be with a self-righteous, twerpy, dense, rash Pokemon Trainer than
her obnoxious, depraved of brain sisters.

It was almost dawn now,
her eyes shifted to the sun which rose over the mountains and she sighed
discontentedly. This was no way to spend a good couple days on a foreign island
in the middle of the Archipelago (I seriously doubt I spelled that right) on a
supposed vacation away from Gym battling and thick masses of crowds on every
dock... You'd think, wouldn't you, that being out at sea would promote fewer
tourists? Unfortunately the Orange Islands held a population that could rival
that of her Gym during one of those water ballets or when the S.S. Anne sets
off into the golden sunset from Vermillion to Olivine.

In any case, like she
said, no good ever came of insomnia. You know, she'd been up for about twelve
straight hours over the whole 'Lugia and The Chosen One' thing, when she'd
spent at least seven of those hours praying to God that Ash would make it back
alive and in no more than one piece (Apart from his hat and other accessories).
And apart from that time, she'd not gotten any sleep in the last twenty-four
hours since they'd even arrived on Shamuti. Her lack of rest was bound to make
her more temperamental now than before. Yeah, she could all ready hear about
fifteen arguments between her and Ash coming up in the next day...

"Mind if I ask what
you're still doing up..?" Melody asked and Misty jumped slightly, turning
to see the young, slightly older russet headed teen sit next to her. When Misty
didn't answer (Not out of spite, at least not completely), she continued to
speak, "You know, Ash has been out cold for hours. So's Tracey... Don't
you think they'll notice when you throw glares at them when they tell you 'Good
morning'?"

Misty still said
nothing... She felt completely drained, even too much so, to insult the girl
who'd been repeatedly taunting her relationship with Ash since they'd met. She
grumbled lowly in her throat, that being the best a death threat she could make
when totally drained of her usual adrenaline.

Melody only grinned at
her in a friendly and apologetic way and sighed as she looked ahead. The wind
blew her long, sensuously straight hair over her face but she didn't bother to
remove it from her sight, "You know... I didn't mean to make such a fuss
over you and Him." Misty froze, knowing immediately who she meant, "I
only... Well, the only explanation I have is that's who I am, how I am. And I
know I may have misjudged how you thought of him but, well, it was fun while it
lasted. I kinda enjoyed mocking your feelings for him... And I'm sorry."
She added hastily, catching sight of Misty's threatening gaze on her.

"I'm not much for
sentiment... Especially towards people who just can't stop messing with me...
So you'll forgive me if I say nothing apologetic to you in any way."

"What is there to be
said about any of this? Will you talk to me a bit..? We can go inside; the
mornings are usually chilly out here." She waited for a reply from Misty
but all she got was a slight nod. Nevertheless, they both rose from their seats
on the front steps to the shrine and walked in through the front doors. Misty
smiled slightly after Melody as they slowly walked past the calming chime of
the patio ornament blowing softly in the wind.

She sat on the couch and
waited as Melody disappeared into the kitchen, soon returning with some
steaming Green Tea; Misty smiled thankfully and picked up the mug, rubbing her
hands over the porcelain surface. It felt so warm... Almost like Ash's breath
on her face yesterday as she dragged him back to shore by rope, or should she
say, since Tracey dragged them both back to shore.

Shocked at her own
thoughts, she almost dropped her mug but, tightening her grip, she laid it on
the small coffee table and sat back, finally feeling some of the lost
exhaustion begin to claim her. It had only taken about thirty-five hours... She
moaned softly under her breath, catching the thoughts of lost time slowly creep
around her head before she was interrupted by Melody.

"You know, you really
surprised me out there yesterday Misty." She said simply. Misty tried to
ignore that statement but, unsure whether she was being given a compliment or
not, she quickly retaliated.

"Not so much as you
surprised me..." She was about to continue but Melody took control of the
situation again, steering it back in the soon-to-be-stunned-stupid red-heads direction.

"I mean, the way you
said you didn't care for Ash as more than a friend and all... Then taking
pretty much full control of that situation in helping Ash back to shore... In a
way, you and Tracey are as much to thank for the safety of the world as that
gloating, Pokemon-entranced hero..." She giggled.

"Yeah, well... The guy
can hardly train on his own let alone save the world. Can you imagine what it'd
be like if it were truly up to him alone..? We'd all be in a rage of
pandemonium..." They both laughed a bit and then Melody asked a question.

"What shocked you so
much about me..?" She blushed in an embarrassed way and Misty felt it
growing contagious, revealing itself upon her cheeks.

"Well..." Really,
she'd been more than willing to insult the young teen but when hearing her
complimentary language, she was forced to think of something else, "...You
surprised me a lot when you chose to help, I guess you could say..."
Melody was confused and, quite unmiraculously, so was Misty. If she hadn't
spoken herself, all ready knowing full well what she meant, she'd have been
completely dumb struck, "Remember when we first met? You didn't seem too
interested in playing Lugia's Village Maiden when you came from the cliff on
shore... In fact, you looked positively downhearted."

"Yeah, well... Hardly
any people have any idea what it's like to be forced into something by a family
member, especially a village-kiss up of a sister..." Melody ended with a
grumble, not noticing when Misty gripped the couch cushion in fury, obviously
remembering some of her own moments of downsizing by her sisters.

"But then..." Misty
continued with a grunt, "It was a real shock when you got so into it. I
couldn't tell which was the act; hating the thought of being the ceremonial
maid or living it during the chaos..."

"Well, when you've spent
your entire life believing it's just a stupid legend you can get an
overwhelming lift of adrenaline after you've found it to be real."

"...Yeah..." Misty
sighed, picked up her mug of-now cool-tea, and put it down again.

"So... Are you going to
get any sleep before you guys head off today?" It was true; Ash had said
yesterday that the sooner they got out of there the better, especially with his
mom breathing down his throat. It was really becoming a nuisance in his
opinion.

"I don't know... Guess I
better try though..." Misty got up to head upstairs where her cot had been
sitting all night, ready for her but then--

"Misty..?"

"Yeah..?" She
asked, turning back around.

"You know when you told
me about Ash never being alone 'cause he had you..?" Misty blushed,
remembering quite well how she'd worded that seeming poetry before forcing
herself to swim through the torrents of the wild ocean to save Ash from
drowning, reminding herself of how important it was that Ash live long enough
to complete the Lugia ritual.

"I... I do..." Why
was she saying this? Why was Melody bringing this up? Why did they have to talk
about such personal matters now?

"Well... I really just
wanted to know, why me?"

"Huh..? What?"

"Why would you tell me
how much you cared for him? After all the mockery and insulting and
everything... I mean, I wasn't being serious about it or anything but still... Why
would you mention such deep emotions to a girl you hardly know, plus one that
could very well be in the same running for the same guy..?"

There was an everlasting
silence as Misty stared exhaustingly at the young brunette. Why? How was she
supposed to know why? Really, she'd only done it to keep Melody from risking
herself and her ability to reawaken Lugia by jumping into the sea after Ash but
when she truly thought about it, her influence had always been enough to change
people's minds. It really hadn't mattered that she say something so cliché, and
definitely not to her...

"I suppose..."
Misty halted a moment, "It was because I knew that, in the end, I could
trust you with that secret..." And she began to walk off, all ready
knowing what would be asked next.

"Does that mean, then,
that you do care for him more than a friend..?" She asked, all ready
smiling at Misty's last comment.

"Yeah... I guess that it
does... Why?" She grinned slyly and asked, "Are you going to back off
or try harder to get him?"

"I think that I've all
ready been taken out of the picture..." Melody smiled back and picked up
the two cups to place them in the sink for washing later.

Misty headed upstairs,
deeply in thought over the sudden revelation that she was considering Ash as
more than just a friend. Downstairs, Melody poked her head out the kitchen
entrance way and up the staircase but saw nothing. Then she turned back.

"I hope you're happy.
Cause now you know exactly what she thinks of you." Ash sat at the table,
holding a mug of his own tea halfway to his mouth but clearly about to drop it
from shock. Melody had mysteriously woken him up at seven a.m. for tea but had
disappeared no more than a few minutes later only to return for two more
glasses and then leave again.

Now here she was, back
with that smile on her face, watching him stare straight ahead for lack of a
better way of relieving himself of the urge to collapse. Suddenly, he broke
free.

"Why would you do that
to her? For her?" For he was unsure whether Melody had made such a plan or
crafted such a scheme.

"Hey, you two helped
save everyone's lives, I figure that I owe you something. And I figured
happiness would be the best gift."

***

A/N: Okay, the end of
this piece. Now, I'm not sure whether to leave it at that cliffy or make it
into a very small-but cute-chapter story. What do you think? I thought it was
quaint enough but you'd better let me know. Review if you want (Hey, with an
author who gives you a choice, who wouldn't grace her with a review?)

The author would like to thank you for your continued support. Your review has been posted.